A New Beginning
by TheWorldInWords
Summary: Dantanaaaaaa
1. Chapter 1

**This was the first Dantana I ever wrote. I didn't intend to continue it any longer than this but if you have any ideas message me on here or on tumblr (stay-strong-smile-forever) and I may keep it going:)**

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Santana walked into the apartment she shared with her two friends and collapsed on the couch. It had been a long night at work and she just wanted to go to sleep. Although it had been nice getting to do the graveyard shift with her girlfriend, Dani, she was still exhausted. Her eyes fluttered shut as she thought about the previous night. A sleepy smile crept onto her lips as she remembered…

"Dani, stop it!" Santana said between loud bursts of laughter.

The shorter girl rocked onto her tippy toes as she rested her chin on the taller girl's shoulder from behind, "Why should I?" She asked with a sly grin.

The dark-haired girl turned her head and met the girl's eyes, "Because I said so and I cannot be responsible for any injuries you will get if you keep tickling me!"

Dani smirked, "Are you gonna go all _Lima Heights_ on me?"

The blonde's eyebrows raised as Santana's eyes narrowed. "I know you didn't just mock me." She said while slowly turning to face Dani. "You are SO asking for it tonight."

Dani's chin fell from the taller girl's shoulder as she turned. That's when she saw the devious look in the dark-haired girl's eyes, "Oh shit" she mumbled under her breath. She took a step back, and the dark-haired girl followed. Then another and the girl followed again. She went to take a final step back when her back hit the wall. Fear filled her eyes as she looked up from her feet to see the dark-haired girl take another step forward.

Santana shuffled her feet closing the last few inches between them, "You pushed me on the wrong night, Danielle."

The shorter girl tilted her head up to meet Santana's gaze, "Did I?" She slowly ran her fingertips up Santana's arms until she wrapped her hands around the taller girl's neck.

Santana felt a shiver shoot down her back at the gentleness of Dani's touch. Instinctively, she raised her hands from her side and pulled the blonde closer by her hips. "I think you did," Santana whispered into the girl's ear.

Dani shuddered as she felt the dark-haired girl's breath on her neck. Something about Santana always left her speechless. She watched Santana's eyes as she leaned forward closing the distance between their lips.

Just then Santana's phone rang snapping her out of her slumber. She reached forward and fumbled it as she brought it to her ear. "Hello?" she said her voice more raspy than normal.

A solemn tone on the other end answered, "Hello, is this Santana Lopez?"

Santana sat up straight, "Yes, what is this about?"

"I'm very sorry to inform you but your mother is in the hospital. She had a stroke a few hours ago."

The voice was interrupted, "Oh my God…" Santana gasped as the words hit her.

"Your father is here and she's stable but he told us to let you know. He didn't think he could tell you himself. We can tell you more once you get here. We usually don't give out information over the phone." The voice continued to talk in a serious tone which only worried Santana more.

"Okay, I'll be there as soon as I can. Thank you for calling me."

"No problem."

The phone beeped letting the girl know the call had ended. A few seconds later Santana felt her breath catch in the back of her throat. Tears welled up in her eyes as she inhaled harshly. She realized she still had her phone in her hands and unlocked it. She looked at the screen through blurred eyes and found the number she was looking for. She clicked it and waited as it rang.

"Santana what the hell are you—" Dani was interrupted by a loud sob.

"D…" her voice cracked.

"San, what's wrong?" The blonde was already out of bed and slipping into her shoes. It was a good thing she chose to wear sweatpants to bed tonight because there was no time to waste. Santana needed her.

"M-my mom…" she stuttered through the words as another sob escaped her lips.

Dani grabbed her keys off the table and slammed the door behind her. "Don't worry baby, I'm coming just hold on."

Santana nodded slightly, knowing the other girl couldn't see her. It didn't matter; it was all she could manage.

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Dani jumped out of the car and took the steps two at a time. She knew how strong Santana usually seemed so this must've been something bad, really bad. It's a good thing she had worked the night shift with her because otherwise she would've been with Rachel and Kurt at work right now.

"San!" Dani shouted at the door as she knocked on it loudly.

The only response she heard was the sound of her girlfriend's strained breathing.

"San, open the door!"

The girl lay on the couch paralyzed by her mind.

Finally, the blonde stuffed her hand in the pocket of her sweatpants and found a bobby pin. Santana had taught her how to pick a lock after she complained about having to get up every time the blonde-haired girl would come over. She bent the bobby pin and fiddled with it for a few seconds before hearing the tumblers drop. She twisted the doorknob and pushed the door open. There she saw the girl curled with her knees against her stomach on the couch. She dropped her keys and shut the door behind her.

"San, it's okay," she said walking over and sitting next to her. "I'm here now, it's okay." She assured the girl as she rubbed her thigh. She felt Santana place her hand on top of her own. The girl's tear-filled eyes met hers. Her eyes glazed over with a pain Dani knew all too well. They pleaded for comfort, safety, anything to show that her world wasn't falling to pieces. Dani then slid behind Santana, her back pressed against the back of the couch. Almost instantly the girl turned and pressed her face against the blonde's neck. Dani slid her arms around the girl's waist, pulling her closer.

"Thank y-you…" Santana finally mumbled barely loud enough for the blonde to hear it.

"Hey," Dani said rubbing her back lovingly, "I got you. It'll be okay."

There was so much running through Santana's head. Her mom. Her dad. Lima. McKinley. Mr. Shue. Karovsky. She wasn't just crying because she was scared for her mom. She was crying because that small town in Ohio brought so much back. She was feeling the pain of the cold slushies every day. The even deeper pain of the words she made sure everyone knew 'didn't bother her.' Then there was Dani. Santana took a deep broken breath as she pulled her head back from the blonde's shoulder. The girl stared at her with those big brown eyes that had melted her heart from the beginning. Dani untangled an arm from her waist as she brushed the dark hair out of her eyes and tucked it behind her ear. She leaned down and kissed Santana's forehead before pulling her head back to lock their eyes again.

"Can you tell me what happened now, San?" She said softly as she rested her hand on the girl's cheek wiping the tears away with her thumb.

A breath caught in Santana's throat as she opened her mouth. "I…um…came home…and fell asleep on the couch," a smile flashed onto her face as she remembered what she had been thinking about. It then disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, "then a call woke me up. It was from a doctor." She saw the confused look in Dani's eyes and kept going, "My mom's in the hospital, D. She had a stroke. Before I left for New York we um…made this promise to each other. We said that we would both be okay until I came back to visit. And now, now she's not okay and I wasn't even there to do anything." A soft sob escaped her lips as she buried her face in the blonde's neck again.

Dani snaked her arm back around the girl's waist and continued to rub her back. "It's not your fault, San. It'll be okay."

Santana slowed her sobs as she attempted to control her breathing. She was too tired. Neither her nor Dani has slept in the past 24 hours. Her body was giving up on her. It was too tired to keep feeling all this pain. Finally, she stabilized her breathing. Dani noticed and gently pulled her arms back as she propped herself up on her elbow.

"Why don't we get you to bed? You need to rest."

Santana just nodded and slowly they both got up. Dani reached for the taller girl's hand and intertwined their fingers. She tugged her hand and pulled her towards her own bedroom. Once they stepped through the doorway Santana squeezed Dani's hand and she looked back at her.

"Will you stay with me?" She asked quietly. "I needs me some Dani cuddles right now."

Dani smiled. "There's my girl," she said grateful to hear some happiness had returned to Santana's voice. "Of course I'll stay."


	2. Chapter 2

Santana woke up and rolled onto her side. Her eyes blinked open when her arm fell on a cold other side of the bed. Dani wasn't there. She sat up and put her back against the headboard as it all came rushing back. _Had it just been a bad dream? _Santana thought. _It was too real…it couldn't have been a dream._ Just then she heard the door creak open an inch. Her eyes scanned up and down before finally locking with a sliver of warm brown eyes. The door pushed open all the way as Dani walked in.

"Hey there, sleepy head." Dani's voice was beautifully raspy in the mornings.

Santana closed her eyes for a second as they were still adjusting to the amount of light flooding the room. "What are you doing up so early, D?"

"I booked our flight back to Lima and made you—"

"_Our _flight_?" _the girl interrupted.

By then Dani was sitting on the edge of the bed facing the dark-haired girl. "Yes, San. Our flight. I'm not letting you go alone."

Santana opened her mouth to argue before realizing it was useless. Dani wasn't about to back down on this one. She just nodded in agreement.

"So," Dani said dragging out the word, "as I was saying before my rude girlfriend interrupted me, I made you breakfast. The plane leaves in about four hours so there's no time for you to be slow getting up today. I hate to ruin your precious lay-in-bed-all-day routine but time's running out."

Santana rolled over and groaned into a pillow. "I have four whole hours leave me be."

"Yeah, and we need to get there two hours early to get through security and we both need to pack. Not to mention you should tell Rachel and Kurt what's going on before you just leave for a week."

Santana threw the pillow at the blonde and pulled her shoulders till they hit the bed. "I can think of much better ways to spend four hours than packing and informing Lady Hummel and Hobbit as to where I plan on going." She said as she straddled the girl's hips.

Dani looked up at her as she laughed before leaning up and pressing a soft, lingering kiss to her lips. "Are you always like this right after you wake up?"

The dark-haired girl pushed Dani back down and captured her lips in a slow kiss answering her question. Dani melted into the kiss and as if forgetting she was trying to get the girl to get ready, wrapped her hand around the back of the girl's neck pulling her closer.

"San," she pulled away resting her forehead on the other girl's, "the food is getting cold."

Santana laughed softly as she pecked the blonde's lips one last time before standing up. She reached out a hand and helped her up off the bed before intertwining their fingers. She led the blonde out of the bedroom and turned back to flash a wink.

The blonde rolled her eyes, "We'll have plenty of time for that in the hotel room." She said as she squeezed the taller girl's hand.

Santana didn't look back as she smirked and muttered to herself, "Wanky."

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Santana reached over to play with Dani's fingers as the girl drove to the airport. She was so glad that Dani was coming with her. She wasn't so happy about having to tell Gunther that they would both be missing work for a week, but he understood in the end. Now, it was starting to hit her. Dani is driving her to the airport. She was driving her to the airport because her mom is in the hospital. Dani's driving her to get on a flight to the exact place where all her painful memories occurred as a teenager. Tears started rolling down her cheeks as Dani pulled into the paid parking space.

"San, what's wrong?" Dani asked after looking over to see her girlfriend crying.

"I-I don't know," she trailed off, "it's all too much, D. It's just too much."

Dani got out of the car and walked to the other side before opening the door. "Come here."

The dark-haired girl eased herself out of the car and allowed Dani to pull her in close.

"It'll be okay, S. I'll be right here to help you." She pulled back but left her arms around the girl's neck.

"T-thank you." She mumbled out.

Dani leaned up pressing a soft, comforting kiss to the girl's lips. She reluctantly pulled away and went to collect the luggage from the car. Santana followed and locked the car before both girls started walking in the direction of the airport doors.


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm sorry for the short Chapter 2 but this one is really long so hopefully that makes up for it!**

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The two girls walked into the hotel hand in hand. They had been like this ever since they made it through security a few hours earlier. Dani knew Santana needed the comfort and even if it was just a slight squeeze of her hand, she felt the girl relax at the touch. Dani led the taller girl to the front desk and rang the bell.

A man came out from around the corner and stutter-stepped as he saw the two holding hands. "Can I help you?"

Santana shot the blonde a look before replying to the man. "Can you lose the attitude?"

Dani squeezed her hand before turning to face her. "Let it go, San," she whispered raising her eyebrows waiting for the girl to agree.

Santana rolled her eyes as she nodded and turned her attention back to the man in front of them.

"I'm sorry about that," Dani apologized.

The man didn't make eye contact with the blonde and instead stared at the computer screen between them. "Do you have a reservation?"

"Yes." She replied with a smile plastered on her face.

"What's the name?" He asked, annoyance laced in his words.

The blonde did her best to keep the fake smile from fading. "Lopez."

As she heard the man scoff at the typically Hispanic last name she felt Santana tense up beside her. She was ready to jump the counter and tell him just exactly how she felt. Dani turned towards the girl again with narrowed eyes as if to say, _don't you dare._ She knew exactly what the girl was thinking. Santana sighed loudly and rolled her eyes once more.

The man behind the counter shoved a paper towards Dani and told her to sign it. Handing it back to him, their eyes met. He rolled his eyes and went back to typing something into the computer.

"Here." He said sharply. "Take your room keys." He paused before saying, "I hope you have a wonderful day." The sarcasm dripping from his words as they came out.

Dani took them from him and smiled. "Thank you." She was trying so hard to be polite despite his obviously degrading and rude attitude. _Kill them with kindness_, she thought.

The two made their way up to the room and right after Dani unlocked the door Santana yanked her hand away from hers and threw the bags to the floor.

"Can you fucking believe that guy?!" She yelled her voice filled with anger.

"S…"

"No Dani! That was uncalled for. I was about to go all Lima Heights Adjacent on his ass right there." Her volume lowered only to shoot back up again. "I can't believe people!"

Dani took a couple cautious steps towards her then held out her hand. After another step she reached the dark-haired girl's arm and pulled her into a rough kiss. She pulled back for a second then placed a soft kiss to the corner of the girl's mouth. "Are you ready to stop yelling now?"

Santana stumbled over her words confused as to how quickly that had just happened. "U-uh...I...yeah."

The blonde tilted her head up to look the taller girl in the eyes. "Listen, I know he was a jerk about us. But do you remember what you told me when we first started dating? When I asked about where you grew up?" She let her hands wrap around her neck.

The taller girl took a moment to think then the memory came to her. "I told you that in the small town I grew up in, people weren't very accepting of who I was. Who I am. That I got bullied almost every day because of it."

Dani put her hand on the girl's cheek. "Exactly. Coming here I knew we wouldn't be treated the same as in New York. It still pissed me off but I was expecting it."

"I've got one smart girlfriend." Santana said, looking down with a tender smile. She rested her hands on the blonde's hips. "Thank you for coming with me." Her voice became gentle and soft. "I would've killed that guy if you weren't here to stop me."

"He wouldn't have known you're lesbian if I weren't—"

Santana pulled the girl closer and pressed a kiss to her neck. "Shhh...Just go with it." She whispered before pulling back to capture Dani's lips in a quickly deepening kiss.

Dani reluctantly pulled away from her girlfriend and rested her forehead to her's. "As much as I'd love to stand here and kiss you all day, we have to unpack and go see your mom."

Santana let out a quiet sigh. "Yeah, I know...but being here I can still pretend she's okay. If we go see her I can't do that anymore," she said just above a whisper.

The shorter girl rocked onto her tippy toes and kissed Santana's nose. "It'll be okay. C'mon, you can't pretend forever."

Santana groaned before letting go of the girl and turning to her bags that were still all over the floor.

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Dani finally unpacked all her clothes and put them away. She glanced over at Santana who was having trouble with the zipper on her suitcase. "You need some help over there, babe?"

Santana blushed slightly at the term of endearment. She cleared her throat quietly before saying, "No, I can handle it."

Dani wondered why the girl always tried to act so strong around her. It's like she was constantly denying her offers to help. Just then a voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Shit…" the darker girl mumbled to herself as she fiddled with the zipper.

The blonde smiled as she walked up behind Santana and placed her hand over the girl's. "Please let me help you so we don't waste the whole day on a zipper." She turned her head to the left to look into the girl's eyes.

Santana sighed with defeat as she pulled her hand out from under Dani's. "Fine…" she grumbled. She watched as the girl's nimble fingers worked at the zipper for a few seconds before finally getting it to slide open.

"Was that so hard? Dani asked flashing a smirk in her girlfriend's direction.

"Yes, actually. Did you not see me trying to get it open for a good five minutes?" The dark-haired girl shot back.

Dani's eyebrows rose at the frustrated and sassy response. "I was talking about asking me to help you, loser." She teased and playfully pushed the girl's shoulder.

Santana pulled her knees to her chest after sitting on the edge of the bed. "Oh...well yeah. I guess that wasn't too hard."

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An hour later the two were finally ready to head to the hospital. Santana played with the shorter girl's fingers as they walked out of hotel lobby. She had butterflies in her stomach and felt tightness in her chest that just wouldn't go away. She was going to see her _mom_ in the hospital. The same mom who was so accepting of her all those years ago. The same mom that helped her through dealing with Karovsky because she was the only person Santana had allowed to see her hurt. The mom that she couldn't imagine living without, was in the hospital. And just like that, the initial shock hit her all over again. She gasped as the wind was knocked out of her. The pain in her chest made it almost impossible to breathe.

Dani turned at the sound that escaped the taller girl's lips. "San…"

Before Dani could continue, the girl looked at her with sad, tear-filled eyes. Words weren't going to explain how she felt right now. Just like they weren't going to help her feel much better either. Hopefully her girlfriend would understand what she was trying to convey with her eyes.

Dani cut her sentence short and lifted their interlocked hands over Santana's head, pulling her into a tight embrace. She rubbed the girl's back slowly before feeling something wet hit her neck. She pulled back and placed both hands on the taller girl's cheeks, rubbing the tears away with her thumbs. "Hey.." she said just above a whisper, "it'll be okay. I don't know your mom, but she wouldn't want you crying over her, that I'm sure of."

Santana slowed her breathing and nodded without a word.

Dani intertwined their fingers as she pulled away and turned to hail a taxi. She rubbed her thumb over the back of the girl's hand to comfort her.

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"Are you ready to do this?" Dani turned to Santana as they stood outside the doors to the hospital.

"No...but I need to see her. I need to do this." The taller girl reached out for Dani's hand as she walked through the doors. Santana walked up to the counter that was just inside. She felt the blonde released her grip and step back as she talked to the woman. The woman typed a few words into the computer then told Santana what room her mother was in. "It's just down the hallway actually." She said while pointing in the direction of the room. The dark-haired girl thanked her then turned to her girlfriend and motioned for her to follow. As they walked down the hallway, one behind the other, Santana's heart began to race. Hospitals were never a place she, or anyone else, wanted to be. She slowed her pace as she saw the room number up ahead. _125_. Then, she paused just a few steps away from the door.

"Dani?" She turned quickly catching the shorter girl by surprise.

"Yeah, San?" She saw the worry in her eyes and took a step towards her.

"I," she paused gathering her thoughts, "I think I need to do this…" she trailed off.

Before she could find enough courage to say the word, Dani said it for her. "Alone." She watched as the brown eyes before her washed over with confusion.

"How'd you know I was gonna say that?"

The blonde took a step closer and placed her hands on the darker girl's shoulders. "I knew because I know you. And even if you wanted me to come with you, I'd tell you to go in there without me." Her hands drifted down and met with Santana's. "You have to go in there and see your mom. I don't want to meet her like this. She doesn't even know I'm here."

Santana further closed the distance between them and dropped a kiss onto the shorter girl's forehead. "Thank you." She released the girl's hands and turned towards the room. Taking a step forward she turned back and glanced at her girlfriend behind her. "She would love to meet you no matter if she knew you were coming of not. She'd love you."

A smile appeared on Dani's face and her eyes sparkled with joy as she turned away from Santana. "I'll be in the cafeteria, come find me when you're done." She shouted without looking back.

Santana stared at the door before her_. I can do this. She's fine. They said she was stable on the phone. I can do this._ Finally she found the courage to push the door open. Her eyes adjusted to the bright lights that were bouncing off the white walls. She took several steps towards the bed in front of her. She saw her dad's gaze shoot up to meet hers. His eyes had a comforting look to them. _It'll be all right_, they said. He stood slowly to pull her into a short hug.

"Santana, mija, is that you?" Santana pulled away from her dad at the sound of the weak voice. Her eyes fell on a woman in a white and blue gown lying in the bed beside her.

"Yes, mami. It's me." She moved closer to her mom and reached out for her hand. She tried her best to avoid the IV drip and wires that were connected to her chest.

The older woman shifted in her bed making room for her daughter. She pulled the girl until she was sitting on the edge. "Why are you here, mija? I'm going to be fine and you took off work just to see your old mom? You should've stayed."

Santana felt her own body tense up at the woman's words. "I had to come make sure you weren't planning on dying on me." She let out a small, sad laugh and saw the woman smile. She looked down as she realized her mom's thumb was instinctively rubbing the back of her hand. "Are you really okay, mami? I can handle it you know. I'm not a little kid anymore."

The woman placed her free hand under the darker girl's chin and lifted it up to lock their eyes. "You'll always be my little girl, mija. Pero sí. Estoy bien. No hay nada de qué preocuparse querida."

_(But yes. I'm fine. There's nothing to worry about sweetheart.) _

Santana smiled at the Spanish her mom was speaking. It had been so long since she'd had a conversation like this. "Estoy tan feliz de que estés bien, mamá. Te amo." She leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to the woman's forehead.

_(I'm just glad you're okay, mom. I love you.)_

Just as Santana pulled back a nurse walked in. "Oh, you must be the daughter. I think I talked to you on the phone," the young man said.

The dark-haired girl stood up slowly to let the man do his job. "Yeah, that was me. Thanks so much for calling me." A smile found its way to her lips.

The man looked up from where he was replacing the saline bag. "No problem. I'm glad you got here this quickly. She should be out of here by tomorrow." He looked back down to connect the bag to the needle in the woman's arm. He turned to pick up two cups to hand to her. "Here's your medicine Mrs. Lopez." Santana watched as he handed her a cup of water and a smaller cup with a few capsules in it.

"Gracias." She said with a sly smirk on her face.

_(Thank you.)_

"De nada, Usted." Santana's eyes shot up as she heard the Spanish words leave his mouth.

_(You're welcome, miss.)_

"You speak Spanish?" She asked as he picked up the tray he had carried the cups in on and walked towards the door.

He smiled and turned to answer her. "No, actually. Your mom taught me yesterday." He glanced at the woman and they both smiled wider before facing Santana. "The medicine might make her tired by the way."

"It's okay. I can come back tomorrow. I'm sure she'll bother you if she needs anything." Santana smiled at her mom and turned to face her dad. "Tell me if anything happens, okay?"

He quickly nodded and returned his attention to his wife. Santana leaned down and gave her mom one last kiss on her forehead. She stood beside her dad's chair as she watched the medicine slowly take into effect. Her mom's eyes slowly shut as she lowered herself further down on the pillow. Santana took that as her cue to leave and waved goodbye to her dad while walking out of the room.

Now that she was less worried about her mom's well-being she could focus on showing her girlfriend around the town she grew up in. She scanned the cafeteria for the short blonde and finally spotted her sitting in the far corner. Walking over she could see that the girl wasn't sitting alone. She was joined by a young boy who sat across the table from her.

"Hey, D.. Who's this?" She said as she sat down next to the blonde and snaked her arm around the girl's waist.

"This is Jack. He's been keeping me company while I was waiting for you." She smiled and looked in the boy's direction. "Jack, this is Santana, my girlfriend."

Santana shot a look to the girl next to her. "Introducing me as your girlfriend to a kid?" She quickly looked towards Jack when she realized what she said. "No offense, you're just young."

He shook it off and looked to Dani waiting for a reply.

"You'd be surprised how mature he is actually. He may be smarter than most adults I've talked to lately."

The darker girl nodded her head and turned her gaze back to the boy. "If you don't mind me asking…" She continued when she saw him nod in encouragement, "what are you here for?"

There was a few seconds of silence before the boy finally opened his mouth to speak. "Well," he hesitated, "I have Liposarcoma." He watched as the two women in front of him shared a confused expression. "It's a type of cancer."

Dani cut in before Santana could respond. "Oh my God, are you okay?"

The boy laughed softly. "Yeah, I'm good. All I need is surgery and maybe a few Chemo treatments after that and I should be set. It's not a bad cancer, it just sounds kinda scary." He assured the two. "My surgery is in a few days so I'm just here waiting for them to prep me and stuff." He leaned in closer so they could hear his whisper. "Plus the food here isn't as good as all my chocolate at home so it's less tempting. I can't eat the day before surgery so I'm training now."

Both girls laughed as Jack leaned back down in his seat. "You're one brave kid." Santana commented drawing a smile to his lips.

Dani nodded in agreement then watched the boy as he stood up.

"I should head back to my room before they start looking for me again."

"Again?" Both girls questioned in unison.

A bright smile cracked his face. "It's a long story."

Dani pushed at the girl next to her urging her to stand up. She waited patiently as the girl groaned then brought herself to her feet. She slid out of her chair and walked over to the boy and gave him a gentle hug. "Thanks for keeping me company, Jack. I had a great time talking to you, you're a great kid."

Santana watched as he beamed back at her and thanked her for actually talking with him like he wasn't some oblivious kid. After she stepped back Santana closed the distance between them and leaned down to hug him. "Kick cancer's ass kiddo." She whispered in his ear then pulled away to ruffle his hair.

"See ya!" He waved as he walked down the long white hallway leading to what they both assumed to be the elevators.

Santana turned to Dani and placed a soft kiss on her cheek.

"What was that for?" The shorter girl tilted her head up and met Santana's gaze.

"Am I not allowed to kiss my girlfriend?" She shot back with a sassy smirk.

Dani giggled then reached for the darker girl's hand. "Can we go explore where you grew up now? Hospitals are kind of depressing."

Santana smiled and squeezed her hand tighter around the lighter-skinned Latina's. She started walking and thought about all the places she could take her girlfriend to see. There was her house, of course, but it would feel weird without her parents being there. There was Breadstix but it was still a little too early for that. _McKinley_. McKinley would be a great place to take her. So much from the school made her into the person she is today. _Why not start from the beginning?_


	4. Chapter 4

**This chapter has the song Fix You by Coldplay (I don't own anything) and if you haven't caught on yet every time there a line of ~~ it means it's a flashback. I hope you like it!**

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Dani and Santana walked through the doors to the school hand in hand. The second Santana felt the brisk air hit her face, all the memories rushed back. She stopped walking while she took it all in. The smell of some girl's perfume, sweet and fruity, brought back one of the worst parts of high school.

Santana was walking from math to her locker. She did this everyday right before lunch so she could put her books away. She walked quickly knowing if she took her time it would result in a not-so-good ending. She sighed as she got to her locker and did the combination without a glitch. She slung her backpack down from one shoulder so she could unzip it. She took the books out slowly and put them against the left side of the locker.

She hated math and the more she had to look at that textbook, the worse she felt. It wasn't the class that bothered her really; it was the people she had the class with. Everyone knew not to mess with Santana Lopez, all the cheerios did at least. Throughout the year it had progressively gotten harder. The subtle comments and insults she knew were directed towards her that the teacher brushed off. The glares she caught out of the corner of her eye. No one dared to say anything to her face though. Not until she left the safety of the room.

Santana shook her head and snapped herself out of her thoughts. All she had to do was go to lunch then she had glee. As much as she hated to admit it, she looked forward to that class more than any other. Sure, Rachel was annoying as hell sometimes but they accepted her for who she was. She zipped her backpack back up and threw it back over her shoulders while shutting the locker. She turned around to head in the direction of the cafeteria when she bumped into someone. "What the hell g—" she looked up to see the face of the person she had run into.

The taller, built football player looked down as a devious grin spread across his face. "Well look who we have here," he teased pushing the dark-haired girl against her locker behind her.

"Karovsky…" Santana growled as she felt her head slam into the metal along with the rest of her body. "Move out of my way afores I ends you." She looked him in the eye putting on the fiercest look she could manage.

"Why don't you make me, _dyke_?" He pushed himself closer to her pressing her back harder against the wall of metal behind her.

Just as Santana opened her mouth to speak he reached back and seconds later a slushie hit her face. She shivered at the sudden rush of the freezing liquid.

Karovsky and his teammates behind him laughed and he stepped away. "How do you like that? Huh? Maybe you should go get your slut of a girlfriend to help you fix yourself." He turned and high five'd the other guys before they walked down the hallway.

"Santana?"

She felt a soft touch on her shoulder and flinched away before realizing it was Dani.

The blonde stepped in front of her looking into her eyes. "Are you okay?"

Santana nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a lot of," she paused flashing through her high school career in her head, "memories."

Dani understood exactly what the girl meant. Her and Santana had gone through similar things as far as bullying went. She knew this was the reason behind the deeper pain in the Latina's eyes the night before.

The taller girl shook her head slightly and grabbed Dani's hand. "I have someone I want you to meet." She said walking down the hallway in front of her. Dani spun on her heels and followed.

They walked into a classroom that was full of kids. Dani let go of the girl's hand and watched as Santana didn't hesitate at all and kept walking.

"Mr. Shue?" The dark-haired girl said as she got closer to the man standing in front of all the kids.

He turned and a smile grew on his face. "Santana Lopez, would you look at who came back to glee club." He stepped forward and engulfed her in a hug. "I thought you hated this place and vowed to never come back?" He laughed and pulled away from her.

"Oh don't get me wrong, I wouldn't be here if I didn't have to be." She playfully punched his arm. "Just kidding. You know I loved this class no matter how many times I said any different."

"I do indeed." His smile grew and he turned back to his class who were all sitting there just watching the interaction take place. "Class, this is Santana. She was here a couple years ago when we won nationals."

Dani cleared her throat figuring her girlfriend had forgotten about her.

The darker girl spun around and blushed as she realized what just happened. She reached for the shorter girl's hand and pulled her towards her former teacher. "Oops…" she whispered in her ear before kissing it quickly. "While we're at it with the introductions, Mr. Shue, this is Dani," she smiled widely at the girl standing next to her, "my girlfriend."

"It's very nice to meet you, Dani." He offered his hand and the girl accepted and shook it. "I'm impressed that you can put up with this one's sass all the time." Mr. Shue tilted his head in Santana's direction.

The blonde let out a laugh. "It's a hard job."

"Hey! No teaming up on me! You both suck." Santana breathed out loudly and crossed her arms while walking to a chair and sitting among the students. The two in the front of the classroom laughed even harder at this and the Latina rolled her eyes. After waiting for them to stop, she spoke, "Are you gonna tell Dani about our glee club tradition, Mr. Shue?"

The man shot Santana a look before a smile appeared on his face. The Santana he knew hadn't changed one bit. He turned to the girl standing next to him who now had a nervous look on her face. "The tradition we have here is that any new person has to sing us all a song," he stated. "It can be anything and can be something emotional or just fun, you pick."

"Hmmmm…okay let's do this." The blonde said confidently and walked over to the band students who were standing on the far side of the room. "May I borrow this?" She asked pointing to the guitar. When the boy nodded she picked it up and slung it over her head.

Mr. Shue slid her a chair and walked to sit next to Santana as she sat down in front of everyone.

Dani strummed a few different chords before turning and mouthing the song to the kids behind her. She then started carefully plucking at the strings and opened her mouth to sing.

_"When you try your best, but you don't succeed, When you get what you want, but not what you need, When you feel so tired, but you can't sleep, Stuck in reverse"_

She made sure to lock eyes with Santana and continued singing.

_"And the tears come streaming down your face, When you lose something you can't replace, When you love someone, but it goes to waste, Could it be worse?"_

Santana watched intently as the blonde stood up without breaking their gaze and walked towards her.

_"Lights will guide you home, And ignite your bones" _

Dani took her right hand from the guitar and reached for the Latina's without skipping a beat. Santana melted at the gentle, loving touch of the girl's hand with the meaning of the lyrics shining through her eyes.

_"And I will try to fix you"_

She let go of the girl's hand and went back to the guitar gently bouncing her fingers on the strings. Santana knew she was singing this song because of the bullying she went through here. Dani knew it had torn her to pieces and she couldn't help the tears that were forming from realizing that she was singing this to her from her heart.

_"And high up above or down below, When you're too in love to let it go, But if you never try you'll never know, Just what you're worth"_

Dani looked up as she saw the students getting up one by one to join her. A few had recognized the song by now and were humming or singing along. But now they were all singing behind her.

_"Lights will guide you home, And ignite your bones, And I will try to fix you"_

She turned around and for the first time in the song, broke eye contact with Santana. She started walking between the kids and smiling as she spun playing the guitar while they danced.

_"Tears stream down your face, When you lose something you cannot replace, Tears stream down your face, And I..."_

_"Tears stream down your face, I promise you I will learn from my mistakes, Tears stream down your face, And I..."_

They all stopped singing when the guitar slid from the blonde's hands to her back. The band behind her managed to stop at about the same time as well. They watched as she took the few steps forward and interlocked their hands again.

_"Lights will guide you home, And ignite your bones, And I will try to fix you"_

Dani finished the last note with a comforting smile and the room filled with the sound of everyone clapping. The class slowly made it back to their seats and she put the guitar back on the rest where she found it.

"Wow that was amazing!" Mr. Shue said grabbing her attention. "I wish we had you here at McKinley so you could've performed with us. You have an incredible voice!" He said with pure amazement in his voice.

Dani giggled. "Thank you, Mr. Shue. I've always loved performing. It's why I moved to New York. Just trying to catch a break, ya know?" She walked over to the chair she had sat in for the beginning of the song and pushed it next to her girlfriend before sitting in it.

He nodded. "You definitely have the talent to make it so don't give up on that." He looked over to see Santana still hadn't done so much as flinch. "Santana, what did you think?"

"I," she paused to collect her thoughts and take a deep breath to prevent the tears in her eyes from spilling over, "I think that was the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me." She said softly and smiled over at the girl who blushed at the statement. "And I think that you have an amazing voice, Dani. How did I not know you could sing like that?"

The girl next to her smirked and raised her eyebrows. "I guess there's still a lot about me you don't know."

Santana put her arm around her and pulled her in closer. She laid a kiss to Dani's head as it fell onto her shoulder and whispered, "Yet."

Mr. Shue stood up and spoke to the class. "_That_ is how you sing acoustically. I hope you all paid attention because I just decided this week's theme will be acoustic songs!"

Santana stood up causing Dani to lift her head from the girl's shoulder. "Well in that case we better get going before this one pulls out another surprise talent. I don't know how much I can take in one day." She said smiling at the blonde girl who was still seated.

"It was nice seeing you again, Santana. Feel free to drop by anytime." He motioned over to Dani before pulling the dark-hair girl into a hug. "Especially if she comes along with you."

Santana pulled away only to see Dani getting up. She backed away and watched her giving him a gentle hug. "It was nice meeting you, Mr. Shue."

He pulled out of the embrace and smiled. "The pleasure's all mine. I think you may have really taught these kids something today." He looked past her and looked to Santana. "Go show her the rest of the town. I'm sure you're dying to go to Breadstix."

Santana moaned with pleasure. "Yes, please. I don't know how I've lived so long without it." She reached forward grabbing the shorter girl's hand and dragged her out of the classroom. "Bye guys! Bye Mr. Shue!" She shouted without turning back.

Dani looked over at the eager girl. "What's Breadstix?"

"Oh you'll see." She replied excited to show her favorite restaurant to her girlfriend. "You'll see."


	5. Chapter 5

**Small trigger warning for the end of this chapter so if small things trigger you don't read this one.**

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"Fabray? Is that you?" Santana watched as the blonde spun around in response.

"Santana!" Quinn squealed and rushed to hug the taller girl. "I haven't seen you in forever! What brings you back to Lima? Who's this?" She turned her head and shouted behind her, "Britt! Look who's here!"

Santana stepped back and glanced behind Quinn. She saw her ex-girlfriend's face light up as she started walking towards them. "Woah there, Q, slow the hell down." She said switching her gaze back to the girl in front of her. "I'm back cause my mom's in the hospital and thi—"

"Sanny!" She was interrupted by a tight, lingering hug from Brittany that drew a concerned expression from Dani who was still standing beside her. They had talked about Brittany a few times. Santana had told her the story of why they broke up and assured her that it was over between them. But that didn't make her any more confident after seeing the way her ex had just hugged her and screamed her name.

Santana half pulled away half pushed the girl out of her arms. "As I was saying, this is Dani…" She made sure to capture her ex's gaze before continuing, "my girlfriend." She turned to face the girl she just introduced. "Dani, I'm sure you've figured this out already from all the screaming," She flashed a glare in the girls' direction, "but this is Quinn and Brittany."

Quinn immediately shot her hand out to shake Dani's. "It's so nice to meet you. You're gorgeous."

The girl blushed a little and thanked her then looked in Brittany's direction waiting.

The tall blonde hesitantly offered her hand. "It's nice to meet you," she said softly. "Quinn's right, you definitely are gorgeous…"

"Thank you." Dani replied as she interlocked her fingers with Santana's possessively. "How about we all sit and have dinner together?"

She decided to give both girls a fair chance. She also knew about the one-night stand her girlfriend had with Quinn. She was cautious and a little jealous, not that she would let that show, but they deserved a fresh start in her mind.

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They had all been sitting at a table for just over an hour; Dani next to Santana and Quinn next to Brittany. It had just so worked out that Brittany was sitting directly across from Santana and Dani wasn't very happy about that, but she did her best to let it go. Little did she realize at the start of the night, that this seating arrangement would soon prove to be a problem.

"Hey Sanny, do you remember the time when we managed to make Disco Inferno sexy?" Brittany purred as her hand crept closer to Santana's. Dani felt the anger and jealousy boiling inside of her, neither of which compared to the insecurity that was slowly building.

The Latina nodded in response. "Of course I do. That was one of the best performances we did without the guys."

There was a long pause between the two girls when Quinn shot in and broke the tension between them. "How about that time Britt sang Ke$ha and threw up in front of the whole school?"

Dani forced a smile on her face as the other three girls laughed loudly.

"That would've been so embarrassing but I was too drunk to care." Brittany's cheeks flushed a light shade of pink as she laughed again. "Speaking of being drunk, San you wanna come help me carry drinks from the bar?"

The dark-haired girl looked up at the already standing girl in front of her. "We didn't order any though."

The tall blonde laughed as she extended her hand to help Santana up. "We're about to, silly."

Dani felt her blood rise at the pet names Brittany had been calling her girlfriend all night. She thought it would be a good idea to get to know the friends Santana had from high school but she was very wrong. Quinn was okay and she liked her, but Brittany was crossing a line with every word she spoke. She had sat silently as she watched the situation go downhill. It started with a friendly hug that lasted just a bit too long, and then progressed to them brushing hands and lingering touches. She watched as the two walked towards the bar before letting her gaze fall on the girl in front of her.

"Do you have any obnoxious stories from high school?" Quinn asked genuinely.

Dani shook her head. "I wasn't in glee club or anything in high school. I was always the quiet girl who wrote songs in the corner or some shit." She let the curse word slip allowing some of her anger to be released with it.

"You write songs? That's really cool. We had a week where we had to write original songs and it was an absolute mess. Santan—"

"Can I ask you something?" She cut in. "Sorry for interrupting…"

"No, no it's fine what's up?"

Dani tilted her head in the direction of the bar. "Do they seem like they're really…um…"

"Touchy feely?" Quinn interrupted hearing the hesitation in the girl's voice.

"Yes, thank you. It's driving me crazy." She admitted finally after holding it in all night.

"I don't blame you. I didn't wanna say anything in case you didn't notice. I'm not trying to cause problems between you two cause I can tell Santana really likes you."

Dani shook her head in disbelief. Santana wouldn't be acting like this if she liked her. She wouldn't let Brittany be all over her. She wouldn't do this. Brittany's gorgeous and tall and _skinny_. That was it. She was skinny. Dani felt the tears welling up in her eyes as the pain in her chest deepened. "She doesn't." She said softly as she stood up. She looked over in the pair's direction only to see Brittany's hand on Santana's shoulder. Their bodies just inches from each other as they waited for the drinks to be made. "I'm going to get some air." Dani mumbled not caring if Quinn heard her. Just before the door she turned and saw that the two girls were too caught up in talking to each other to even notice her get up. With that, she stormed through the doors, no intention of staying at the restaurant left in her mind. There was no room. The insecurities flew around her head and there was no sign of stopping. All the words from her childhood came rushing back. **_Fat. Ugly. Worthless. Never going to be loved. Stupid. A waste of a person. _**_How could Santana even like her let alone love her? She couldn't be loved…she was too broken._


	6. Chapter 6

****Much bigger trigger warning for this chapter****

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Dani wandered down the sidewalk consumed in thought. She couldn't shake the demons that were flying around her head. She had locked them away for almost three years now. They hadn't made more than a short appearance. But now, today, she didn't know if she could do it. _You're fat_, they said. _You're not good enough,_ they hissed. She knew she was never good enough for Santana. She knew from the beginning that it was far too good to be true. She had hoped that what felt like a dream would last forever and she had savored every minute, but it was over. All it took was one hour with her ex-girlfriend and Santana had already forgotten about her. She was just that easy to forget. _You're worthless, _they reminded her. _Why would anyone remember you?_ Just then she tripped over the uneven pavement and landed against her hands. She whimpered as she hit the ground, a pain shooting up her forearms. Someone offered to help her up but she was still so dazed by her mind that all she could manage in response was a shake of the head. She pushed herself up slowly only to see red on the palms of her hands and wrists. All it took was the sight of the scrapes she got from falling to trigger the worst of her demons. She needed to get back to the hotel and fast. She started to flag down a taxi when she realized she was in the-middle-of-nowhere-Ohio. She'd just have to walk…and she had no clue where she was going.

Santana walked back to the table with Brittany and the four drinks. She figured Dani was in the bathroom so she didn't bother to ask.

"What took you guys so long?" Quinn asked as she took the drink from the other blonde's hand.

"He took forever to make the drinks, sorry geeze." Brittany replied before Santana could get a word in. Quinn breathed out in frustration and took a sip.

Brittany saw the Latina put her girlfriend's drink down in front of where the girl should've been, but the seat was empty. _Finally,_ she thought, _some time without that whore. _"So San, how've you been?" She asked reaching out to place her hand over hers.

"Good," she pulled her hand away and took a sip of her drink. "I've been really good since I started dating Dani; I thought we already went over this." She looked over in the direction of the bathroom hoping to see her girlfriend.

"Speaking of Dani," Quinn started before being cut off.

"Where'd she go, Q?" Santana questioned in a concerned tone. She could feel something was off and it didn't feel good.

The girl set her drink down and motioned for Santana to do the same. "She left…about 10 minutes ago." She watched as fear glazed her friend's eyes over.

"She what?

Brittany reached for the dark-haired girl's hand again. "She left, Sanny. Now we ca—"

"We?!" Santana spoke loudly and stood up fast, sliding her chair against the wall behind her. "There is no we Brittany. There is a me and Dani. There is no me and you." She started collecting her stuff frantically. "Dammit," she mumbled angrily as she tried to pull money out of her wallet. "Quinn, I'll call you later I need to go." She said as she threw the money on the table and walked as fast as she could out the door and headed to her car.

_Shit,_ she thought to herself and fumbled with the keys trying to get the car to start. _Why did Dani leave? Was it something she did? It had to be. She knew this wasn't a good idea from the second Dani suggested it. Spending time with two girls she's slept with in the past? Stupid, Santana, just stupid. _She was lost in thought trying to play back the night to figure out why her girlfriend had left. _How was she going to find her? Where would be the first place the girl would go?_

Dani found her way to the hotel after only half an hour. It felt like much longer to the girl, who by this time, was fully immersed in the thoughts running wild through her mind and had tear-stained cheeks. She needed her release. She had also had time to think while trying to find her way to this building. She walked past the rude clerk from earlier without giving him a second thought. She heard him say something but didn't care enough to make out the words. She ran up the flights of stairs and finally reached their room. _Their_ room. The realization hit her. She shared it with Santana; the same Santana who would have to sleep here later tonight. _Whatever, _she needed to talk to her about all this anyway, she guessed. She threw open the door and rushed to the side of the bed. As the door shut behind her tears started to fall again and her breathing became choppy. She pulled out the guitar case from under the bed and took out the instrument._ How did Santana see the case but not know she could sing? Or did she even pay enough attention to notice the case…? _The song from earlier came rushing back as she placed her fingers on the strings. _She had told Santana she would fix her in that song…she had poured her heart out in that song, now look where she is._ She started to play a song, a different song this time, one that she wrote years ago. Playing or writing songs were the only things that helped her through these urges. She didn't care about the scrapes she should clean off; she knew she couldn't handle that right now. She just had to play. It was the final attempt to taking her mind of her urges.

_"Did you forget, That I was even alive?"_

The song brought out all the emotion that had been surfaced and she started crying harder, her breathing quickening.

_"Did you forget, Everything we ever had? Did you forget? Did you forget, About me?"_

_"Did you regret, Ever standing by my side, Did you forget, What we were feeling inside? Now I'm left to forget, About us"_

She took a deep breath hoping to balance out her intakes as she went into the chorus. She tried blinking away the tears so she could see the strings better.

_"But somewhere we went wrong, We were once so strong, Our love is like a song, You can't forget it"_

_"So now I guess, This is where we have to stand, Did you regret, Ever holding my hand? Never again, Please don't forget, Don't forget"_

Her voice was cracking under the pressure of the notes but it was slowly working. Her demons were quieting down. She could feel herself being able to breathe again…so she continued to belt out the words that once broke her heart to write and were breaking it now to sing.

_"We had it all, We were just about to fall, Even more in love, Than we were before, I won't forget, I won't forget, About us"_

Before she could finish the song, she heard the key card slide into the door. Santana pushed the door open slowly. She had been standing on the other side listening to the words flowing out of Dani's mouth and she couldn't take it anymore. "Dani…" she whispered cautiously as she moved closer to the girl. She went to rest her hand on the blonde's shoulder but she pulled away.

"No, Santana. Don't touch me." She said sternly and inched further from the Latina's reach.

Santana's eyes washed over with guilt and pain as a result of seeing her girlfriend move away from her. "What did I do?" She asked softly.

"What did you do?" Dani got up and moved to rest her guitar on the wall then turned to face Santana with crossed arms. "What did you do?!" Her voice rose with anger, jealously and pain all in one. "You really have to fucking ask me what you did?! Are you serious?"

The girl's anger rose at the sound of Dani yelling at her. She had spent the past half hour looking for her and it was not to get yelled at as far as she was concerned. "Yes, Danielle, I do have to ask you. Now are you gonna keep acting like a bitch or are you gonna answer me?" The anger and sarcasm dripped from the words as they were thrown in the blonde's direction.

She cringed at the use of her full name. Santana knew she hated that and it only fueled her anger and frustration more. "I'd rather act like a bitch than a back-stabbing whore." She said matter-of-factly. She watched as the Latina's jaw dropped and continued talking. "But since I'm _not_ a bitch, I'll tell you."

Santana's eyes rolled at the statement the girl made.

"Brittany was _ALL_ over you tonight and you didn't do shit."

The darker girl was shocked by all the curse words coming out of the blonde's mouth

"First, she hugged you. Which I wasn't a huge fan of but whatever, I let it go. But then she touched you and every time she called you 'Sanny'" Dani dragged out the nickname, mocking Brittany, "and you LET her…I'm sorry but if that doesn't give me every right to be mad at you, I don't know what does."

Santana opened her mouth to say something only to be shot down.

"Oh no, you don't get to talk yet I'm not fucking done." She paused to take a breath before she let out how she truly felt. "I get it if you don't want anything to do with me after seeing her again. Just tell me and I'm gone." A tear escaped her still stained cheeks but she pressed on. "She has history with you. She was your first love. She's absolutely gorgeous and I can't compete with that." She walked forward toward Santana who was now sitting on the side of the bed, the anger progressively draining from her voice. "She has beautiful straight hair and she's skinny." Dani's eyes looked empty as the tears came more often. "She's perfect…" She said softly not sure if it was loud enough for the other girl to hear her. "So just go be with her already! I know you'd rather be there than here! Just go back to Bread-whatever and tell her!" The anger poured out of her mouth in an attempt to cover up all the insecurity.

"Dani, I love you why the hell would I go back to Brittany? I told you I was over her and I fucking meant it!" Santana yelled in response leaving Dani stunned.

The girl's eyes widened at the words that just left the darker girl's lips. The blonde stood a step away from the girl in shock. She didn't know how to react to the words that had just been said. _I love you. _Santana had just told her she loves her.

"I'm sorry for letting her do all that tonight, okay?! I really am. I didn't mean it and it was entirely one-sided, you have to believe me." She stopped and saw the glazed over look on Dani's eyes. "D…do you believe me?"

"San…"

The girl smiled and relaxed slightly at the sound of the nickname.

"Do you even realize what you just said to me…?"

Fear covered Santana's face as she played the last five minutes back in her head over and over. After a few seconds she caught it. "Oh shit Dani uh I-I didn't u—"

Dani burst into laughter after hearing her girlfriend stumble over her words because she was nervous.

"What's so funny?" Santana stood up from her place on the bed as her eyes narrowed and she raised her eyebrows questioning the girl who was still laughing.

The blonde stepped forward and cupped Santana's face gently. "I love you too, San…so much." She leaned in smiling, Santana meeting her with a soft kiss. "Just don't do that ever again," she said warning the taller girl as their lips brushed together with every word. She pulled back father but left her arms around Santana's neck and looked down, seeing the darker hands around her waist keeping her from going too far. "I'm sorry for calling you a back-stabbing whore."

"I'm really sorry, D, about everything." She paused for a second and squeezed Dani's hips to make sure she had her attention. "But don't you think for a second that I forgot about what you said. Britt may be skinny, but you are absolutely gorgeous. Your curves are beautiful and I wouldn't have you any other way, okay?"

Dani's heart melted with the sincerity of the dark-haired girl's voice and the look in her deep brown eyes. Santana said it with such care, such love, that it made her want to believe it for once in her life. She nodded with tears rolling down her face before leaning in to capture Santana's lips again for a long kiss that both girls poured every emotion into.

Dani pulled back slowly from the kiss that Santana had been lost in. She rested their foreheads together but kept their lips close. "What did I tell you about calling me Danielle?"

Santana looked deep into the beautiful brown eyes before her, "I was mad. Besides I like having something about you that no one else does."

The blonde leaned closer and brushed her lips with Santana's. "You have plenty of me that no one else does." She said with a smirk and winked.


	7. Chapter 7

**Smut chapterrrrr lol this was my first time writing smut so I'm sorry if it's not that good. After this I have no idea how to continue the story but if anyone has ideas feel free to message me here or on my tumblr stay-strong-smile-forever. If I get an idea that I can make work then I'll definitely keep this going! Thank you for reading it and if you have prompts or ideas that aren't related to this story then you can still send them to me! I'm always open to new ideas:)**

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_Santana looked deep into the beautiful brown eyes before her, "I was mad. Besides I like having something about you that no one else does."_

_The blonde leaned closer and brushed her lips with Santana's. "You have plenty of me that no one else does." She said with a smirk and winked._

The taller girl gasped softly and turned them around so that Dani's knees hit the edge of the bed. "Do you believe me when I say your curves are beautiful?" She pressed a kiss to her lips then dropped down to her neck allowing her to answer.

"U-uh…y-yeah," the blonde replied, her voice shaky from where Santana's lips were gently sucking but also from insecurity.

Santana pushed her backward; Dani landed on her back and took a sharp breath from the shock of the impact. "You don't sound too sure about that." She said as she followed the girl onto the bed and straddled her hips. The girl put her arms around Santana's neck and pulled herself up, ducking her head to kiss her collarbone. Santana lightly pushed the girl away and shook her head. "I want to show you how beautiful you are tonight."

Dani opened her mouth to say something but decided against it. She lowered herself back down onto the bed and let Santana take control.

"Tell me why you don't like your curves." The girl demanded, staring worryingly at the girl below her.

Dani shut her eyes as the demons' voices came rushing back. She listened to them all, hoping it would help her explain to her girlfriend. "I-I uh…they told me I was. Every day in school, no one would talk to me because I was the 'chubby girl.' M-my dad…he said it too. He said I would eat more food than we could afford and when my parents caught me in the basement…he yelled for me to get my _fat ass out of the house_…" She shuddered as his angry words echoed in her head.

Santana drew her in for a long kiss hoping to take her mind off of it. She tangled her hand in the blonde hair and pulled the girl closer to deepen the kiss. She felt Dani's tongue graze across her lower lip asking for entrance but she pulled away instead. "None of those people matter now, baby. All that matters is what you think about yourself." She leaned in and whispered into the girl's ear, "And I'm gonna show you what you should think."

She kissed the skin right below her ear softly at first, gradually opening her mouth to place wet kisses down her neck. Dani shut her mouth tightly to stifle a moan as Santana got dangerously close to her pulse point. The dark-haired girl noticed and pulled away from her neck. She lifted Dani's left wrist and traced the tattoo with her thumb before kissing it over and over. She trailed the soft kisses up her arm until she got to the girl's shoulder. "You're beautiful," she whispered against the lighter Latina's skin. Dani shook her head slowly causing Santana to stop what she was doing and lock their eyes. "Your body is perfect." The girl emphasized, running her hands down the blonde's side and over her hips. "You could turn me on just by looking at you, babe." She leaned down capturing Dani's lips with hers. She pulled back to whisper something against the girl's lips. "I love the way your hips sway when you walk." She stopped to kiss her again. "I love how your uniform at work hugs your body in all the right places." She paused before looking deeper into the pair of brown eyes, "I love you."

This time Dani pulled Santana down into a heated kiss. She loved how the girl was taking the time to show her she was beautiful but she couldn't wait anymore. With every touch she felt herself melt. She felt Santana's tongue on her lip and opened her mouth. They fought for dominance and finally she let Santana win.

Santana's hands slipped under Dani's shirt and rested on her waist holding her closer. She swallowed the girl's moan as she squeezed her hips. She slowly moved her hands from the girl's hips to the bottom of her shirt. She raised it up and broke their kiss to pull it over the blonde's head before throwing it to the side. She looked down at the newly uncovered skin and looked back into the girl's eyes. "You're beautiful." She leaned down and kissed her way from her chest to her belly button. Her hands scratched up Dani's back until they reached the clasp on her bra.

As Santana took her shirt off, Dani could feel the insecurities coming back. _What if Santana left her after seeing how fat she really was? _They all washed away as she saw her girlfriend take in her body then look into her eyes and tell her she's beautiful. Those words seemed to be healing her every time she heard them fall from the darker girl's lips. She could feel her core heating up every time Santana touched her. Once she felt the girl's fingernails drag up her back and unclasp her bra, she pulled her down into a deep kiss. "More, San," she managed to say breathlessly against her lips.

"Not yet, D," Santana whispered back and placed another kiss on her lips before moving back down to her chest. She cupped her breasts and started circling her fingers on the top.

Dani couldn't hold it in any longer as she let out a loud moan. "God, San that feels so good." She started to rock her body against her girlfriend's hoping to get the friction she needed.

Santana stopped moving her fingers and kissed along the girl's jawline muttering words between every kiss. "Slow" … "down" … "there" … "tiger."

"Please touch me, San I can't—"

"Can't what?" She teased lowering her hands to play with the hem of her jeans.

"I can't take it anymore!" Dani yelled out of frustration.

Just then Santana wrapped her mouth around the girl's breast. She heard a loud moan as the girl beneath her shuddered from pleasure. She moved to the other doing the same, earning another sound from the girl. Without a word, she started trailing kisses down towards her hips. Once she got there, she sucked hard.

"Fuck San!" Dani yelled. The tension inside her was building and she needed Santana to move quicker. She bucked her hips further into the girl's lips.

Santana could see how bad the girl needed her touch but she wasn't going to get it just yet. She sat up straight, still straddling her hips, and pulled her own shirt off.

"Oh my god…" Dani mumbled, taking in what had just been put in front of her. She pulled Santana down into a rough kiss that caught the girl by surprise. She tangled her fingers in the dark hair and smiled when it drew a moan out of her.

Without warning, Santana removed Dani's pants and dragged her fingers up the inside of both thighs. "You're beautiful," she whispered again with the more skin she uncovered.

The girl's hips bucked again when Santana stopped her hands close to her core. "Please…" she begged her voice weak.

She removed the last piece of clothing restricting her access and started to circle her clit. She had done enough to tease the girl so she pushed one finger inside.

"Fuck, babe!" Dani screamed as Santana's finger pumped in and out of her.

Santana found her sweet spot on her neck from a few minutes ago and bit down then quickly soothed it with her tongue.

"San!" She bucked her hips encouraging the girl to add another finger. "SHIT! Oh my god, yes!"

Santana could feel the tension closing in around her fingers and pushed harder causing the girl to let out another loud moan. She looked up and saw her eyes glaze over. She curled her fingers and pushed even harder into the spot she knew would send the girl over the edge. She slowly pushed in and out letting her ride out the orgasm. Moments later she pulled her fingers out and locked eyes with Dani as she licked them clean.

"Fuck that's so hot," Dani mumbled, trying to catch her breath.

Santana crawled up and lay next to her and pulled her into her embrace. She could feel Dani's short breaths against her neck as the girl leaned in closer. She pressed a kiss to the top of her head and ran her fingers through the blonde hair. "You're so beautiful, Dani."

Dani wanted to pull back and look the girl in the eyes but she couldn't. She was too tired and felt too safe in Santana's arms. "Thank you, San," she said softly, "no one's ever done something like that for me before."

Santana nodded wanting to savor the moment. They laid in comfortable silence for a couple minutes before she broke it. "I love you," she said still running her fingers through the girl's hair.

Dani smiled against Santana's neck. For the first time in her life, she felt truly beautiful and truly loved. She tilted her head up and looked into the girl's beautiful brown eyes that she had fallen in love with. "I love you, too." She kissed her softly then rested her head back in its place on Santana's shoulder.

They lay like that for only a few minutes longer before Santana felt Dani's breathing even out. She looked down and saw that her eyes were shut and she was asleep. She smiled at how perfect the girl looked and kissed her hairline. "I wish you could see your beauty through my eyes," she whispered and soon let sleep take her, too.


End file.
